Live, right now, the way God would have you to live
The kings of the earth who mourned Babylon’s destruction had lived against God. In Revelation 18 they remain alive albeit distant and they remain unrepentant. In a few chapters all of these rulers will face individual judgment. They were far off in chapter 18, but will be brought near to the Great White Throne. That nearness will not be for comfort or reward, but for judgment, punishment, permanent banishment.
The kings of the earth are not the only ones who will face judgment. All of us will, and the things that we will be judged for stem from the lives we live right now. Our choices are like long term investments that pay dividends all along the way. Some of those kings who wept for Babylon probably had times in their past where they could reckon Babylon as a problem. Maybe they even had to wrestle with God before they were able to sleep with Babylon. We do not have to look far back in history to see that men like Stalin had some roots in the church. He had some fear of God all the way to his end.
Where are you right now? Do you know what is right? I bet you do. Are you doing it? That is the crux of your matter. Even tiny steps of your own will diminish what God intends to make good in your life. The viewpoint of these decisions must be faith in the way God set things up. The influencers around you will undermine God’s pattern with all manner of enticements. It is crucial that you say in your heart and live your life a certain way. First tell the enticements a definitive “No.” Then go on with words to yourself like the following: “I may not understand it, but if God said it I will trust it, do it and wait with great expectation for the goodness he has promised.”
See, God’s way works. I have lived now about half way through a career that God directed me to. There have been some very heavy ups and downs all along it. Do you know what? As I look back on it there is clearly a God-stamp of success on this way of life and living. Much of my past has been duty-bound, obedience, slogging through. A lot of that is just my personality, but despite some outlooks and inlooks that are not pleasant God’s way has worked. It just plain and simple has. Give it a try! You will find the same.
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